SANTO DOMINGO.- The Revisory Assembly’s rejection of the proposal to bestow legal status to the marriages performed by country’s Protestant churches has unleashed a spat between that religious community and the Catholic church, which through the Dominican State’s Concordat agreement with the Vatican, does have such a right.

Yesterday the protestant denominations said the rejection has been such a hard blow, that say they are "tired" and threaten to make the lawmakers pay, whereas cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez countered that no organism can come here and dictate norms."

Several evangelical communities took note of the legislators who voted against the Executive Branch’s proposal, and called on their members to take their attitude into account for in the 2010 and 2012 elections, to vote against them.

The Dominican Confederation of Evangelical Unity (Codue), the Civic Movement Moral Democratic Response, headed by the reverend Domingo Paulino Moya, as well as the Evangelical Council of the Assemblies of God, affirm that they won’t stand for what they say Congress did to them by approving article 44 of the Constitution.

"This is an attack and a blow against our evangelical community composed of more than 1.5 million Dominicans who deserve respect and consideration and that we understand that this doesn’t correspond with a Modern State, on the contrary it’s a step backward towards an anachronistic Constitution," said Codue president Reynaldo Aquino.

Looks like the Dominican Protestant community is being treated like the Gay community. Their marriages will not be acknowledged as such by the Catholic church. This is just outrageous and makes no sense whatsoever. Everyone has the right to marriage regardless of religious affliation or sexual preference. Marriage has nothing to do with religion. So what the Catholic Church does not want to acknowledge those marriages, send them to hell with that crap. The Catholic church has a long history of depravation and dirt ridden filth in it's closets and they still have the never to point fingers. HYPOCRITES!!!!!

It's stuff like this that cause me extreme embarrassment to be Dominican. Yet another reason for my other South American friends to tell me how dumb, ignorant, uncultured and intolerant Dominicans are.

The Catholic Church is nothing more than a corporation. Religion....church is big business in our day and age......Proclaiming that only marriages that "we" perform are legit sounds like a corporation trying to corner a market sector. Sounds like the 16th century when the Catholic Church was selling letters of indulgence (spiritual pardons....basically saying God has forgiven you for your sins)...again, a good source of revenue brought about by advertising and street marketing on the Catholic Church's part. This is ridiculous. I'm glad I went to the justice of the peace when I married in Santiago.